A Girl Called Fox
by Mickey00
Summary: When a new girl named Sage comes to the Lodge, the boys try to make her feel included and welcomed, but Sage won't trust them. She doesn't trust anyone. When she forms a bond with a certain Newsie, she begins to realize it's ok to trust people again. Until someone from her past shows up. ModernAU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"In here, Sage," Mr. Kloppmann said, beckoning her to follow him. He place his hand on Sage's back but she pulled away.

"This is your room. You've got it to yourself, seeing as you're the only girl. Um, the boys are around here somewhere. Dinner's at six and the bathroom's down the hall on yer left. Curfew is at eleven, so no going out after eleven. Um, I think that's it. The boys'll make sure you're up and ready for school when it starts in August. Questions?" he asked.

When she just stared at him, he awkwardly said, "Ok then, I'll be in my office if ya need anything. Like I said the boys are probably in the gym or something so ya might check there."

He left and Sage looked around the room. 'There's no way I'm staying here,' Sage thought to herself, 'Tonight after everyone's asleep I'll leave.'

She wandered around the house, hands in her pockets and her short, brown, hair behind her ears. She examined every nook and cranny in the house, finding all the weak spots and places that'd be easy to escape. There was also an alarm system. How nice.

She ended up finding a window that was cracked open with a book that was covered in dust and cobwebs, which probably meant they kept that window open. Sage decided to sneak back over there that night to leave.

As she continued to walk around the house, she found the gym. It was a large room that had been messily painted a light red. There was an old looking basketball hoop at the end of the room and a closet that had balls spilling out of it next to it.

Sage saw a large group of boys throwing a football. Two little ones tackled a taller one, knocking him to the ground. "Dog pile!" a boy about her height shouted. The boys began jumping on the three boys on the ground.

"This is how it normally is 'round here," a voice said. Sage turned at the voice and saw a boy with a crutch and a lopsided smile.

"Why aren't you out there with them?" she asked, jerking her head towards the group as he limped over to her, not bothering to be nice.

"Cause of my leg," he answered, gesturing to the crutch under his arm and his limp leg.

She glanced at it with a blank face then back at the pile of boys. "I'm guessing you're Sage?" the boy with the crutch asked.

"How'd you know that?" Sage asked, frowning at him. His smile didn't falter. "Mr. Kloppmann's been talkin' bout ya. Telling us to be nice and welcoming to you," he explained.

She didn't say anything. "I'm Crutchie," the boy continued, still grinning. "Crutchie?" she asked, her frown now turning to confusion.

"It's a nickname. All the boys have them, except Albert and Henry. They kinda refused one. You'll probably get one too," he said, still grinning.

She turned back towards the boys. They'd gotten off the taller boy, who was rubbing his head and scowling at the other boys.

"That's Race. He's just mad because Henry stole his cigar," Crutchie explained.

When Crutchie saw Sage's shocked expression, he quickly added, "He doesn't actually smoke. Just puts it in his mouth."

She just watched as the boys started another game.

"Hey guys, come meet Sage!" Crutchie shouted, making the boys' heads turn. They trickled over and a tall boy with brown hair and blue eyes held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Sage, I'm Jack," he said.

She looked down at his hand then back up at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He seemed to realize she wasn't going to shake his hand and put it back down.

"Sage, this is Mush, Specs, Race, Sniper, Elmer, Albert, Jojo, Finch, Henry, Crutchie, Buttons, and Romeo," Jack introduced. Said boys waved.

"So Sage, how old are ya?" Romeo asked. "Eleven," she replied shortly. "Sage, you wanna play with us? We were just about to start another game," Jojo invited, a kind smile on the young boy's face. The look on her face made Jojo regret his invitation.

She continued to scowl at them until they went back to their game. Crutchie went to watch and Sage expected Jack to leave with them but he stayed.

"You're smart to be guarded. But it's safe here, Sage, we're not gonna let anything happen to ya," Jack said gently. "You don't know anything about me," Sage scowled. "You're right, I don't. But I know these boys. They've got stories too, Sage, stories that are probably a lot like yours," Jack explained.

"How would you know? What do you know about my story, Jack?" Sage snapped. Jack's kind expression faltered a bit, but didn't change. "Nothing. But I didn't know anything about these boys either when they came. Most of them were scared and angry like you. I'm guessing you guys aren't that much different," he explained.

"I'm not scared, I can take care of myself. I've done it before and I can do it now," she said, but her voice was much softer now as if she was tired. Jack nodded but still didn't go back to the game. His eyes were examining the younger girl as she watched the game.

He'd seen this many times before. He'd been at the Lodge since he was probably no older than five, he'd seen every kid come and go from here. Sage was no different. She was just a scared, angry, bitter, girl. He knew her type. He guessed that she'd either try to escape tonight or sometime this week.

Anyway, that night at dinner they began trying to decide Sage's nickname, while said girl ignored them and picked at her food.

Sage got into a fight with Romeo after he suggested her nickname should be 'Sweet Thang'. After that Jack put a hold on the nickname decision. When dinner was over Jack sent everyone to their rooms to calm down for bed. Sage headed to her room to plan her escape.

 **A/N: So this is the first chapter of 'A Girl Called Fox'! It's going to update every Tuesday and all of the chapters are already pre-written. Please give me feedback!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sage was lying in her bed for about forty minutes before she finally heard the boys quiet down. She waited ten more minutes before grabbing a few clothes and the rope she always snuck in her suitcase and cracked the door open, wincing at the loud squeak it made.

She walked/ran down the dark, quiet, hallway, walking on her toes to make less noise. She reached the window she'd found earlier and poked her head out of it to judge the landing. There was a tree a foot or two from the window, but it looked too far to reach. She knew she'd break something if she jumped out that window, or worse, so after a minute of thinking, she reluctantly went to find a different one.

As she crept across the dining room, she kept her eyes open for any possible way to escape.

"You're up late."

Sage let out a small scream as she whipped around. "Now where're you heading out to at this hour?" Mush asked, sarcasm practically dripping off of each word. "None of your business. What're you doing out here?" Sage asked, crossing her arms. "I could ask you the same thing," Mush replied, standing and crossing his arms.

Mush was a good two feet or taller than the eleven yr. old girl, who kind of shrank back.

"Sage, I'm not going to hurt ya," Mush said, softly. "What're you doing up?" Sage repeated, her voice stiff. "You know, when Albert first got here, he tried to sneak out too. Actually succeeded once or twice," Mush explained, sitting back down and turning his attention to a stain on the table that he began trying to scratch off.

Sage didn't say anything, which Mush took as a sign to continue. "When he escaped the first time, he actually got all the way to the Brooklyn bridge before Kloppmann found him and brought him back. Second time, he made it to New Jersey before the cops found him and made him come back. The last time he tried was when he ran into the Delanceys. Thank God Jack, Specs, and I found him in time."

"Who are the Delanceys?" Sage asked, trying to keep the curiosity from her voice. "Bullies. Like to pick on the new kids and the younger ones when us older ones ain't around," Mush explained.

"I can take care of myself," Sage huffed and began to walk off when Mush said, "Where're you goin', Sage?" "None of ya business," Sage repeated, glaring at Mush. "It is if you don't want me to tell Kloppmann," Mush replied, looking up at Sage, straightfaced and dead serious.

"I'm not scared of you or that old man," Sage replied, but Mush saw a tinge of worry on her face. "You know, when you came in here, I almost didn't hear you. You're really good at sneaking around, kind of like a fox or somethin'. I'm guessing you had practice?" Mush said.

"Plenty of practice," Sage said quietly. "Are you sneaking back to your family?" Mush asked.

"No. I'd never go back there," Sage snarled. "Then where're you sneaking off to?" Mush pressed. Sage just glared at him. "I'm pretty good at keep secrets, Sage. All the boys here come to me when they've got something eating at 'em. I won't tell unless it's hurting you, Sage," Mush said.

"The last person I trusted taught me not to," Sage replied. "Well I'm not like that last person. I'd never intentionally hurt one of my brothers, and now you're one of us, so that makes you our sister. I'd never intentionally hurt any of my brothers or sister, Sage," Mush said genuinely.

They stayed there for a minute, staring at each other. "I'm still not telling," Sage said, eyes narrowed.

"Let's just talk then," Mush offered. Sage knew what he was doing. He was trying to distract her from leaving. And that little voice in the back of her head was telling it's ok and to talk to Mush. She knew better. Every inch of her body was telling her not to trust again.

But she sat down anyway. "No personal questions?" she asked. "Not until you're ready," he promised. She nodded, but still felt like she was making a mistake.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked reluctantly and awkwardly. Mush shrugged. "When's your birthday?" he asked. Sage stared at him with narrowed eyes as she thought, trying to decide if that was personal or not.

"August 2nd," Sage said kind of quietly. Mush's eyes widened and a grin broke out onto his face. "No way! Really?" he exclaimed with excitement. "Yeah, why?" Sage asked, confused.

She'd never thought twice about her birthday. Her parents never thought about it once so why should she?

"That's the day we ended our strike! That's in a week and few days or somethin'!" Mush grinned. "What strike?" Sage asked, trying not to sound curious. "Last year, me and the guys held a strike against the newspaper we work for for raising it's price. We have to sell the newspapers at the World to help Kloppmann pay for this place. Otherwise we'll be on the streets or something. Anyway, they raised the price of what we have pay to buy them. So me and the guys and three of our friends, Davey, Les, and Katherine, we went on a strike. Except it took like two weeks and Crutch went to the Refuge. But we won and now we're gonna have a big party August 2nd to celebrate," Mush explained.

"What's the Refuge?" Sage asked, frowning in confusion. "It's juvie. Run by a man named Snyder the Spider. He's a horrible man. He's in jail now, but we don't know how long. He's been in jail then gotten out in less than a week," Mush explained.

"Oh. Was Crutchie ok when he got out?" Sage asked. She ignored that nagging voice in her head that kept saying, 'Stop! You're getting attached! Just go back to bed!'

"Eh, kinda. Bruised and injured, and he's still got nightmares but mostly ok. Most of the boys have been to the Refuge. Jack's nightmares are the worst, but he's been there the most," Mush told the young girl.

"How many times has he been there?" Sage asked, her voice quiet. "Four. Last he got out he barely made it. We were all sure he was going to…" Mush said, his voice trailing when he saw Sage's face. Her skin was pale and her dark brown eyes were wide in fear.

"You ok?" Mush asked gently. She nodded but looked down at her hands. Mush changed the subject, "So you'll be twelve on your birthday?" She nodded. "That's cool. Romeo just turned thirteen a few months ago," Mush replied. She nodded again.

"You're gonna like the party. Newsies parties are always the best," Mush grinned. Sage looked up in confusion. "What's a Newsie?" she asked. "That's what we call ourselves. I don't know who came up with it, but it just kinda stuck," Mush told her. She didn't say anything.

Mush and Sage continued to talk the rest of the night until the next morning when the boys began to trickle in for breakfast. "You two are up early, how long you been sitting here?" Buttons asked, smirking between the two. "We got up a few minutes ago," Mush lied.

Sage looked at Mush, confused. He winked at her with small smile when Buttons looked away. "I told you. I keep my brother's and sister's secrets," he whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Soon all of the boys came into the dining room and Jack stood on the table, banging his fork on his plastic cup. "Shut up, Cowboy, we're listening!" Elmer shouted, a smirk on his face as he threw a banana at Jack's head. Jack moved out of the way and gave Elmer a playful glare.

"Mush came up with a nickname for Sage!" he announced. Sage frowned in confusion and looked at Mush, who was smiling at her. "Why does he get to pick?" Race asked. "Because he's the oldest. And all your suggestions suck," Jack said. This resulted in an eruption of shouts and throwing food and silverware at Jack.

"Hey, hey, hey! It was a joke, chill!" he shouted, dodging the flying bananas and forks. "The nickname he came up with is Fox."

The boys turned to Mush. "Why Fox?" Henry asked. "I dunno, just seemed to fit," Mush shrugged. The boys looked at each other, then shrugged and went about their business.

"Hey, Sage- er, Fox! Wanna come with us? We're gonna play dodgeball," Henry asked, running up to the young girl. "No," she said as she walked off.

She walked up to Mush, who was talking with Jack, and said, "I need to talk to you." Jack looked between the two in confusion. "Everything ok?" Mush asked as Jack left. "What'd you tell Jack?"

"What?"

"Jack said you came up with Fox. You got that from what you said last night. What'd you tell him?"

"Fox, I didn't tell him anything. I just told him that I thought Fox would be a good nickname for you. That's it, I swear it," he promised.

Sage gave him a skeptical look before leaving and going up to her room. There was no way she was calling herself 'Fox'. It was a stupid nickname and it would give her away. She was _not_ getting attached to these boys.

She plopped down on her bed, and sat there, not really sure what to do now. She began to change her clothes when there was a knock on the door. "Changing!" she shouted. She finished then said, "Who is it?"

"Mush."

She narrowed her eyes at the door and said, "Whaddya want?"

"Me and a few of the boys wanted to know if you wanted to come to the skate park with us?" Mush called through the still closed the door.

"I don't have a skateboard," Sage said, crossing her arms.

"We've got plenty extra. And ya don't need to have a board. You could use rollerblades, or skates or somethin' if ya wanted. C'mon, Fox, it'll be fun," Mush pleaded.

Sage rolled her eyes at the nickname then opened the door. "Fine," she grumbled and Mush grinned. "C'mon," he said and began walking down the hall quickly. His legs were so long that Sage had to take two steps for every one of his just to keep up.

When they got outside Sage saw Finch, Albert, Henry, and Romeo messing around on various items. Romeo was clipping on his helmet when Finch accidently ran into him on roller skates, knocking them both over. "You two ok?" Mush asked the two boys who were untangling themselves from the other and trying to stand back up.

They nodded and Finch gave Mush a thumbs up. "Our hoard is over here," Mush said, leading Sage to a pile of wheeled objects in the garage. "Hoard?" she asked. "That's what Jack and Kloppmann call it," Mush explained, "Just find something that either fits or you like and the pile of helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads are over there."

He went to keep Romeo from rolling into the street and left Sage to pick her stuff. She looked over the large pile and realized why they called it a hoard. Most of the wheeled objects were broken or looked very beaten. She pulled out a decent looking skateboard and saw Henry skate over to her.

"Know how to use it?" he asked, smiling. "Why wouldn't I?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Of course she didn't know how to use it, no one had ever taught her. But she wasn't going to let him know that.

"I don't know, you just don't seem like the skating type. Show me what you can do," he said, stepping off his skateboard and flipping it up to grab it.

Sage swallowed nervously, and put the board on the concrete. She stepped onto it and pushed off. So far so good. She put her other foot on the back and the board flew up, flying out from under her, making her fall on her back.

"You ok?" Henry asked, stifling his laughter. He walked over to her and held out his hand. She sneered and stood. "I'm fine," she mumbled. "I can teach you how to ride it if you want," he offered.

She looked up at his kind face and inwardly sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. After a few minutes, she'd gotten the basics down and Mush called, "Alright, guys, let's get goin' to the park!"

Sage felt like she was going to regret this as Henry helped her grab a helmet and knee and elbow pads.

They soon reached the skate park Henry stuck by her side, showing her what to do and making sure she didn't fall. Even though she did fall. Seven times.

She managed not to hurt herself, and it was actually kind of… fun.

"C'mon, Fox, you got this!" Henry encouraged at the bottom of the ramp. "Henry, I don't know about this. Maybe we should just stick to the small ramps," she called looking nervously down at the ramp.

"Have I let you fall at all today?" Henry asked.

"Yes! Seven times!" Sage shouted, making Henry laugh. "That was an accident! C'mon, trust me!" he called.

Sage laughed and rolled her eyes, then clipped her helmet on and stepped onto the board. She took a deep breath then pushed off down the ramp.

She rolled down the ramp, the wind smacking her in the face and adrenaline rushing through her body. It was the most of fun Sage had ever had.

Henry grabbed onto her when she got down the ramp, helping her stop and she jumped off, grinning like a madman. "I did it! I did it!" she shouted triumphantly, throwing her arms in the air.

"See? I knew you could, you just had to trust me! And you did!" Henry shouted, hugging Sage happily.

Her smile dropped along with her arms as Henry gave her a quick hug then let go. She'd trusted him. She'd let her guard down.

"I'm going back to the Lodge," she said, voice low. "What? I thought-."

"Leave me alone, Henry, I'm going back to the Lodge," she said angrily.

She grabbed her board and began heading back, leaving a confused Henry standing by himself.

Sage walked into the Lodge and ignored Specs, who asked her how the skate park was, and walked up to her room, locking the door and sitting on her bed.

She'd trusted. She'd let her guard down. Sage put her head in her hands. Could she actually trust these guys? Would they hurt her? She'd been hurt too many times, it couldn't happen again….

But what if she could trust these boys? Especially Mush and Henry. She feared she'd already began trusting them, but at the same time, it felt kind of… nice. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

A knock on her door made her head shoot up. "Fox? Can I talk to you?" Mush asked. ' _Should I let him in?'_ Sage asked herself.

She got up, unlocked the door, and opened it. "Can I come in?" he asked. She moved aside, allowing him to walk in.

She closed the door and sat on her bed. "What's up? Henry said you two were having fun, then you like switched gears or something," he asked, sitting next to her.

Sage shrugged a shoulder, not looking at him. "Hey, what's up? We're friends now, right? You can talk to me," he said softly.

Friends? ' _We're-we're friends?'_ Sage thought to herself, looking up at Mush's kind, worried, face.

"Mush, you can keep a secret, right?" Sage asked, placing her hands on the edge of the bed and leaning on them as she looked down at her knees. "Of course, Fox," Mush said.

Maybe it was time to let someone in.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You know how I said last time I trusted someone, I learned to never trust again?" Sage asked, eyes fixed on her knees.

"Yeah," Mush said slowly. "Well, last time I trusted someone I got hurt. Physically and emotionally. I'm-I'm _scared_ to trust you guys because-because I don't want to get hurt again," Sage said, her voice small and quiet. She moved her hands to her lap hunched over and folding her hands in her lap.

"Fox, we're not going to hurt you. I swear on mine and all the boys' lives, we'll never hurt you," Mush promised. "I know that. At least, I think I do. But it's-it's-."

"It's still hard. If you don't mind my asking, but what happened?" he asked. Sage didn't say anything. "I'm-I'm not ready," she said quietly. "I understand," Mush said, nodding.

They were quiet, Mush trying to think of something to say. "I know if you give us a chance, Sage, you won't regret it," Mush said, holding his hand out to the younger girl as he stood slowly.

Sage looked up at Mush's hand then up at him, then back at his hand. She hesitated then took his hand, making Mush's face light up with a smile. He pulled her to her feet and they went downstairs, seeing the boys slowly trickling into the kitchen for lunch.

"Fox, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or someth-," Henry began, quickly walking up to Sage. She gave Henry a small, hesitant smile as Mush left to talk with Race and Specs. "It's fine, Henry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stormed off like that," she said quietly. "So we're good?" Henry asked.

"We're good," Sage told him, making him smile. He fist bumped her, then grabbed her hand and dragged her off to Albert and Finch. The three boys began teaching Sage how to play their version of poker. Instead of money, they betted on their candy hoards (it was mostly expired candy) and little trinkets that had no worth but they liked them anyway.

Albert won, but Finch kept trying to claim he cheated. They kept playing it until dinner where Jack and Specs practically had to drag the four away from their game.

"There's a reason Jack doesn't let them play poker very often," Crutchie whispered to Sage as they sat at the table after getting their food. "What's the reason?" Sage whispered. "They don't stop. They start betting on everything. It gets kind of out of control a lot of the time so he usually doesn't let them play," Crutchie explained.

"Why'd he let them this time?" Sage asked, frowning in confusion. Crutchie shrugged. "Maybe 'cause they were trying teach you or you were playing with them or something," he suggested. Sage frowned in confusion. Why would Jack let them play just cause she was playing with them? It wasn't like it was some special occasion or something.

Dinner was sort of uneventful. Other than the occasional toss of a mashed potato, nothing really happened.

But after dinner, gears switched. The boys went crazy and it took Jack, Specs, Mush, _and_ Kloppmann to calm them down and even then they didn't stop running around and getting into arguments with the other.

"What's going on?" Sage had to shout over the noise just for Mush to hear her. "It's movie night," he shouted back before running over to break up a fight between Finch and Romeo.

Sage blinked. "They're going insane because it's _movie night_?"

"Yep. It only happens once a month so it's pretty special when it does happen," Crutchie explained, watching the chaos with a slightly amused expression from the safety of the top of the table.

"What movie are we watching?" Sage asked the crippled boy. Crutchie shrugged, then his face lit up.

In a loud voice he called, "Hey guys! Since Fox is new let's let her pick the movie!"

All heads turned to the smaller girl who shrunk back. The boys all ran over to her, shouting suggestions. She scrambled to the top of the table with Crutchie as Mush shoved the boys back. "Shush! All of you! Let her think!" he shouted, a stern look on his face.

Mush turned to Sage and began to say something when the door opened, making everyone turn towards it. "Hey guys, sorry we're late," a tall boy with dark brown hair said. A smaller version of the tall boy was next to him, bouncing up and down giddily on his toes. He ran over to Romeo and Buttons, who welcomed the younger boys with open arms.

"You're fine, Davey, we haven't even started the movie yet," Jack said as the older boys clapped the 'Davey' on the back.

"Who's this?" Davey asked, looking Sage up and down. "She's new. Her name is Fox," Crutchie explained.

"Hiya, Fox! I'm Les and this is my older brother, Davey!" Les exclaimed, practically bouncing over to Sage. He held out his hand and she reluctantly shook it. "They're the ones I told you about, Fox. The ones that helped us win the strike," Mush explained. Sage nodded in remembrance.

"So what movie are we watching?" Davey asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"We're letting Fox pick since she's new and this is her first movie night," Henry told the brothers.

"What movie do you want to watch, Fox?" Les asked.

Sage thought for a minute. She hadn't seen many movies, but there was one that was her absolute favorite. She tried to watch it every chance she got.

"Do you guys have Treasure Planet?" Sage asked shyly. A few of the boys' eyes lit up. "Of course we have it! We love that movie!" Mush grinned, putting his hand on Sage's shoulder.

"You do?"

"Of course!" Finch smiled.

Buttons ran to put the underrated Disney movie in the DVD player, and everyone either sat on the couch, floor, on top of each other, or in the arm chairs.

Davey and Jack made popcorn for everyone, but it was eaten in under two minutes.

All of the younger kids fell asleep through half of the movie, except for Sage. She made sure she stayed awake.

She enjoyed the night, but after it was over, she went straight to bed and crashed. It'd been _long_ day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Heads up, Mush!" Sage shouted as she chucked the frisbee. Said boy looked up and easily caught the frisbee in one hand then turned, looking for any of his teammates. He threw it to Henry, who threw it in the goal.

Sage cheered happily. They'd been playing Ultimate Frisbee most of the day and even though they were all exhausted from it, they played three more rounds. They probably would've played more if Kloppmann hadn't called them in for dinner.

"So you like Ultimate Frisbee, Fox?" Mush asked as they filed in.

Thunder boomed outside as Sage nodded. "I've never played it before but it's fun."

"You've never played Ultimate, and you're _that good_?" Buttons asked, scrubbing the dry mud off his face. He'd fallen a few times.

"I wasn't all that good, I fumbled it quite a few times," Sage said quietly, embarrassed.

They got their food, thanked Kloppmann, then dug in. "'Morrow's Monday. You readeh ta sell 'apes, Fox?" Elmer asked, his mouth stuffed with pizza.

"Sure, I guess," she shrugged, taking a big bite of her pepperoni pizza.

"It's a lot a' fun once ya get the hang of it," Crutchie explained, smiling.

' _Does this boy always smile?'_ Sage thought to herself, staring at Crutchie.

"You can stick with me tomorrow, Fox, I'll teach ya the ropes," Race grinned as he walked past with his third plate of pizza.

"Yeah, he'll teach ya how to steal cigars," Romeo shouted from the other end of the table at Race, who glared at the younger boy, but wasn't able to keep the knowing, playful grin off his face.

"When Jack let Race teach Romeo how to sell a few years ago, Race almost got the both of them arrested by Snyder. It's joke now but it sure wasn't then," Mush whispered to Sage.

Sage didn't say anything for a moment, then whispered in a small voice, "Could you teach me how to sell tomorrow?" Mush grinned and said, "Sure!" He was practically beaming the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning, Sage was rudely awaken by Jack knocking _loudly_ on her door. "C'mon, Fox, get up! We're going to be late!" Jack shouted. "Late to what?" Sage groaned sleepily.

"We gotta sell papes today, remember?" Jack asked.

She thought for a minute, then she did remember. "Ok, ok, I'm coming," she grumbled. She got up, got dressed, then went downstairs for breakfast.

"So you want to sell with me today? Learn the ropes?" Jack asked, sitting next to her. "Actually I was wondering if Mush could teach me?" Sage asked. Jack smiled and said, "Yeah, that works. 'Ey, Mush! You teaching Fox to sell today?"

Mush, who was in the kitchen getting some eggs, looked up, grinned, nodded and gave Jack a thumbs up.

"Alrighty. You'll be in good hands," Jack said, patting Sage's back. She moved away from the contact, but nodded with a small smile anyway. Jack noticed the fact that she moved, but didn't say anything.

After everyone finished breakfast, they headed to the distribution center. Sage saw two boys, one tall and the other a little shorter, behind the desk. Both were around Jack's age, maybe older. The shorter one had black hair, a white shirt, and jeans, the other had blondish hair, a blue and grey striped shirt, and ripped, dirty looking jeans. Neither looked very nice, but Sage wasn't scared of them. Even though they gave her a dirty look. She'd dealt with people probably worse than them.

"How many papes, squirt?" the taller one asked when she reached the desk. How many? She didn't know how many papes to get! "Um," she stuttered. "She'll have thirty," a voice behind her said.

She looked behind her and saw Mush. "Can the squirt not speak for herself?" the shorter one asked. "I can speak!" Sage said angrily but before she yell at them, Mush placed his hand firmly over her mouth. "Just give us the papes, Oscar," Mush said, sounding irritated. "Or what, Mush?" Oscar asked.

Mush and Oscar had a mini stare off, before Oscar growled. "Give us the money and we'll give ya your papes," Oscar said, smiling tightly. Mush put the money down and Morris shoved the papes into his arms.

Mush led Sage off and she shoved his hand off her mouth. "What was that for?" she asked, annoyed.

"Just try not to get on their bad side ok, Fox? I don't want you to get hurt," Mush said, looking as annoyed as Sage felt.

"Who are they?" Sage asked, confused.

"They're the Delancey brothers. They're bullies who like to pick on the younger kids," Mush explained. Sage frowned. "Just because I'm younger doesn't mean I can't handle myself, Mush."

"That's not what I meant, Fox, just don't purposely egg those two on," Mush said. They left the distribution center and Mush led Fox to his selling spot. "So sometimes the headlines aren't that great, so we kinda have to bend the truth," Mush whispered, handing Fox her pile of papes.

"You mean lie?" Fox asked, looking at the headline. 'Man saves cat from tree.'

"Yeah, basically. There are other ways to sell though. You could act, y'know pretend to be sick, or hurt or somethin', or we could pull the brother-sister act. Wanna try that one?" he asked. Sage shrugged. "Why not?"

He looked behind Sage and said, "Ok, here comes a lady, we can try it on her." He whispered to Sage what to do, and she nodded, grinning.

As the lady came closer, Sage moved behind Mush and began acting sickly. Mush fake coughed as she drew nearer and walked over to her, hunching over a bit. Sage followed, copying Mush's movements.

"Excuse me, miss, buy a pape from me and my sistah? It'd really help, we haven't eaten in a week," Mush exaggerated. Sage raised an eyebrow at Mush, then quickly dropped it and began acting hungry when she saw the lady looking at her.

"Sure, I'll buy a pape," the lady said, sympathy and pity in her voice.

"Thank ya kindly, miss," Mush said and Sage began nodding her head gratefully. The lady took a pape and began walking off.

Mush laughed and stood up straight once she was out of earshot and high-fived Sage. "You're a natural!" he grinned.

They continued doing this until it was lunch time, and they split the cash they'd made so far and went to Jacobi's Deli. "How's our little Fox doing so far?" Jack asked, walking over to the pair. "Great, she's a natural," Mush bragged, making Sage turn pink.

"Awesome, Fox!" Jack grinned, high-fiving her as well. Mush and Sage got a sandwich to split, then sat with Race, Henry, and Albert, who were playing a card game of some sort.

After a bit, a girl about Jack's age walked in smiling. "Hey boys," she called to the Newsies.

"Hi, Katherine!" the boys chorused.

"Who's that?" Sage asked Mush, as 'Katherine' kissed Jack.

"That's Katherine. I've told you about her, remember? She helped us with the strike," Mush explained, not taking his eyes off the card game.

"Hey, Fox, c'mere!" Jack called, waving the younger girl over.

Sage hesitantly got up and walked over. "Ace, this is the new girl, Fox. Fox, this is my girlfriend, Katherine," Jack explained. Katherine grinned at Sage and held her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Fox. Jack's been telling me all about you," she explained.

"You too," Sage said, but didn't shake Katherine's hand.

The two girls talked for a bit longer before Mush told Sage they had to get back. "See ya around, Kath!" Mush called as the two left Jacobi's.

The rest of the day went rather well. Mush and Sage split the money 50/50 then went home for dinner.

Sage realized as she began playing Sorry with Finch, Jojo, and Crutchie, that maybe she didn't mind her nickname so much.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Hey Fox!"

Fox looked up from her papes that she was reading and saw Buttons running towards her. "Hide me!" he hissed." What'd you do?" Fox asked as he scrambled to hide behind the younger girl.

"I kinda ticked Race off," he said slowly as he crawled behind a pile of papes.

"Where is he?" Race growled walking over to Fox. "Where's who?" Fox asked, playing innocent. This scene seemed to be way too familiar to her.

"Buttons. I saw him run this way, Fox," he growled. That was when Fox noticed Race had a slight glitter-ish tint to his pale skin, making her snicker. "Hahaha, it's very funny," Race mocked, still steaming. "He went to Jacobi's," Fox lied, still snickering. Race gave her a quizzical look, then reluctantly began heading for Jacobi's.

"Thanks, Fox," Buttons whispered, crawling out. "Of course. Don't pull pranks on Race anymore, though, ok?" she said and he nodded before running off.

"That was nice of you," Mush said, walking in and sitting next to her. She shrugged. "Can I ask you something?" Mush asked. Fox nodded, a bit confused.

"Why'd you do that for Buttons?" Mush asked, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning against it as he turned to Fox.

Fox looked back down at her papes and said quietly, "He reminded me of my little brother, Eli."

"Did he pass away?" Mush asked.

Fox shook her head. "As far as I know he's safe," she mumbled.

"Then why doesn't he live with us at the Lodge?" Mush asked softly.

"We got separated," she said quietly.

"Who does he live with now?" Mush asked.

"With his aunt."

"Where's-?"

They heard steps behind them, making Fox quickly look behind them. When she didn't see anybody, she quickly stood and said, "I need start selling before it's too late in the day." Mush tried to stop her but she was too quick.

Mush walked over to Jack and pulled him from his conversation with Davey. "How much do you know about Fox?" he whispered. "Not much. Kloppmann told me her parents weren't too kind to her, but that's all I know. Why? Everything ok?" Jack asked, crossing his arms with a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Mush said truthfully, but he didn't take his eyes off of where Fox had disappeared to.

She had started opening up to him.

* * *

"Extra! Extra! Wildfire kills five!" Fox lied. A man came up to her and handed her a dollar for the paper. "Thanks, sir," Fox said as he left.

"Hey, Fox?" Mush asked, walking up to her.

Fox glanced at him then inwardly sighed. "What's up, Mush?" she asked. "We didn't finish our conversation earlier," he said. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, Mush," she replied.

Mush started to press, but decided it'd be best not to. She'd open up when she was ready. Pushing her to open up would only make it worse. He just had to be patient.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this didn't go up yesterday, it wouldn't upload for some reason. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying Sage/Fox and the story. The next chapter is when things pick up in case you're getting kind of bored. R &R please! TTFN! Ta ta for now!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Hey Fox, can you come here for a quick second?" Kloppmann asked, poking his head into the dining room.

She looked up from her card game with Race and glanced at said boy in confusion. Everyone had finished selling early, so they were now relaxing at the Lodge. He shrugged and she got up, following Kloppmann to his office where she saw her social worker.

"What's going on?" Fox asked, looking from Kloppmann to her social worker in confusion. "Sage, you remember your half bro-." "He's not my half brother," Fox said sternly. It didn't matter that they had different moms. They were siblings.

"You remember your little brother, right?" her social worker asked, slightly irritated.

"Of course. I took care of him for three years," Fox snapped. "Is he ok?"

"He's in the hospital."

Fox felt like the floor was swaying under her feet as she felt her blood drain from her body.

"Wh-what? How? What happened? Is he going to li-?"

"Sage, he's going to be ok, but it'll take some time. He was severely malnourished and dehydrated when the police found him. It'll take a few weeks but he'll be back to-,"

"Can I see him?"

"Sage, you know you can't," the social worker said sympathetically. "Why not? He's my brother!" Fox exclaimed. "Sage, he's not your real brother though. No matter how hard you want him to be, he's not. His aunt-."

"Is responsible for this happening! Shouldn't he be taken away from her now?" Fox shouted. "Yes, and he is. But until we get him a new foster family, you two are staying separated," the social worker said. "Why? He's my _brother_! I need him and he needs me!" she shouted, tears filling her eyes. "I don't know why, Sage, it's just the way things are," the social worker said stiffly.

"Then why'd you even come to tell me this?" Fox said in a low, angry, voice. "Because I thought you should know. I'll tell you when we have news," the social worker said and Fox stormed out and up to her room, ignoring Race's confused and slightly worried shouts for her.

She ran up to her room and slammed the door, angrily kicking the clothes she had on her floor and mumbling, "It's all her fault. This is all her fault," as furious tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Fox?"

"Whaddya want, Mush?" Fox growled, ignoring her tears. "Race said something happened with your social worker. Want to talk about it?" Mush asked gently as he walked in.

"What is there to talk about?" Fox shouted, looking up at her best friend. "What'd your social worker say to make you this upset?" Mush asked, kind of worried. This was the first time he'd seen the younger girl this angry.

"My-my little brother. You know the one I told you about? Eli?" Fox asked, sniffling.

Mush nodded before sitting on Fox's bed.

Fox nodded. "Well, I guess his aunt wasn't taking care of him. The police found him severely malnourished and-and, Mush, they won't let me see him at the hospital," Fox said and broke down, falling to her knees with her hands on her face.

"Hey, hey, hey," Mush said gently. He picked the smaller girl up and set her on his lap on the bed.

"It's gonna be ok, Fox, you'll see. What'd the social worker say about Eli?" Mush asked in a soft voice.

"He-he's severely malnourished and dehydrated, but he should-but he should be ok," she explained through tears.

"Why won't they let you see him?" Mush asked, confused. "Because his-because his aunt won't-she won't let us see-see each other," Fox sobbed. "Shh, shh," Mush whispered, rubbing Fox's back comfortingly. She buried her head into his chest. He waited for her to calm down before asking, "Why won't she let you see him?"

"I don't-I don't know. She practically hates me for some reason," Fox hiccuped. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. Fox had practically raised her little brother for three years. She had a special bond with him. If something happened to him…. She didn't know what she'd do.

Mush thought for a moment then suggested, "What if we sneak into the hospital to see him?"

"Couldn't we get arrested for that? I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go to the Refuge. Especially after all the stories I've heard," Fox shuddered.

"Nah, we won't get arrested. Wanna know why? 'Cause we're not gonna get caught. It'll have to be quick though," Mush said. Fox scooted off of his lap, sitting next to him instead. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Fox asked skeptically.

Mush nodded. "Want to grab a few of the boys to come with us? Or Kath? They might be able to help," he suggested. Fox shook her head quickly.

"I don't want to tell the others yet."

Mush nodded in understanding.

"Ok, let's get going then. We'll have to be quick. That won't be a problem for you though, will it?" Mush smirked, making Fox give him a small smile.

* * *

The two were able to escape the Lodge House without causing suspicion. They walked to the hospital, talking and enjoying the other's presence.

They made it to the hospital and Fox hesitated before walking in.

They walked up to the front desk. The lady behind it looked at them skeptically. "We're here to see Elijah Jackson," Fox said in a small voice. The lady began typing something on her desk and frowned before saying, "Do you have any relations to Elijah?"

"I'm his older sister," Fox replied.

"And who's he?" the lady asked, looking at Mush.

"He's my best friend," Fox explained, making Mush smile.

"It says here that Elijah can't have any visitors right now," the lady said softly. "Please? I haven't seen my brother in a long time. It'll be really quick, I swear," Fox promised. The lady hesitated, before sighing and muttering, "I'm going to get in trouble for this."

To Fox and Mush she said, "He's on floor three, room 56." Fox was so happy she nearly began crying. "Thank you so much," she said. She grabbed Mush's hand and they ran to the elevator. She was going to see her brother. No matter what it took.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hey, Eli," Fox said quietly, taking her little brother's hand. He was asleep, but she was pretty sure he could hear her.

"How old is he?" Mush asked, looking the small boy up and down. He looked almost exactly like Fox in Mush's opinion. Same facial structure, same mud-brown hair, and even though Eli's eyes were closed, he was pretty sure he had Fox's big, dark, brown eyes as well.

"I think he's seven now," Sage said, brushing his bangs out of his eyes gently.

Mush looked at the young girl, who was staring at her brother lovingly. "You two were really close, weren't you." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement.

Fox nodded. "Like I said, Mush, I practically raised him."

"Fox, what happened to get you and Eli taken away?" Mush asked quietly. Fox sighed.

"It's a long-."

"What're _you_ doing here?"

Fox's blood ran cold. She and Mush turned around and saw Eli's aunt in the doorway. "I was just coming to visit him," Fox said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. "You know you're not allowed to, little girl," his aunt said, walking in.

Mush stepped in front of Fox. "We were just leaving," he said in a low voice. He was taller than Eli's aunt, but she didn't seem to care. "And who are you?" she asked, looking him up and down. "He's my brother, but he's right, we were just leaving," she said taking his hand.

Mush grinned at the fact that Fox had called him her brother.

"Oh no you don't. You're not supposed to be visiting him and you know it. You're coming with me," Eli's aunt growled, grabbing Fox's arm. "Let go! I'm not going anywhere with you!" Fox shouted, prying her fingers off. She and Mush took off before she was able to grab Fox again.

They were a few feet from the Lodge when they finally slowed to a stop, hands on their knees and gasping for air.

"Fox. Why does she hate you so much?" Mush asked, collapsing in the grass. "Trust me. If I knew I'd tell you," Fox said, collapsing next to him.

They lay there for a while, staring up at the clouding sky. "Fox, you started to tell me what happened. Do you think-?" Mush began, sitting up.

"I was eight when we were taken," Fox interrupted, still staring at the sky, "Eli was three. Eli and I had the same dad, but our mom wasn't my bio mom. She was Eli's."

"I thought you said you guys were half-siblings, not step?" Mush asked, confused.

"Something happened to my bio mom. I don't know what. I think she left when I was little. Anyway, my dad married that horrible woman then they had Eli. When Eli was about five months, things went downhill. They both got into alcohol. I think my dad lost his job. They were stressed 24/7 and began getting mean. Things got bad. Really bad. Someone reported my parents and Eli and I were taken away.

We got separated when he went to his mom's sister. Joyce, I think her name is. I don't remember a lot of it because I was little and so busy with Eli I didn't focus much on anything else. I went to so many homes before I came here. I stopped trusting. That's why," she sighed, "That's why I was so snippy and rude when I came."

"And the person that you said taught you not to trust again?" Mush asked softly.

"My dad. After a few months of being in the system, Eli and I got taken back to our dad. He claimed he'd changed and for a little while he had. We didn't know where Eli's mom was but the police were trying to find her. Anyway, after Eli and I started trusting our dad again, he started getting back into alcohol. It-it was bad. After we were taken away again, and I was sent away from so many foster homes, I stopped trusting them," she explained.

Mush was quiet after Fox finished her story. Fox sat up and stared at him, worry in her eyes as she waited for him to say something. He wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry. We're not going to abandon you," he whispered to her.

She relaxed in his embrace.

* * *

"There you two are! We thought you got jumped by the Delanceys or something. Where'd ya go?" Crutchie asked as Mush and Fox walked in.

"Fox and I just had to do something real quick," Mush explained.

Fox smiled softly. Mush kept her secret.

"Hey, Fox! We were just about to go to the skatepark, want to come?" Henry asked. She saw Albert, Henry, Romeo, and Buttons all had their helmets on. "Sure," she smiled.

She grabbed her gear and they all headed out after promising Jack to be careful.

They goofed around for a few hours and soon they talked Fox into trying some sort of trick on the ramps.

"Are guys sure about this?" she called from the top of the ramp.

"You got this! Just keep your balance!" Romeo shouted. Real encouraging there, Romeo.

She took a deep breath, before putting her weight on the board and skating down. So far so good. She skated up another ramp and shifted her weight. She tried to jump and make the board spin, but when she jumped, the board kept going. She hit the ground and slid down the hill.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Whoa!" Albert shouted.

The boys caught Fox before she could reach the end of the ramp. "You ok, Fox?" Romeo asked. The young girl looked dazed. "Fox?" Buttons asked worriedly.

She shook her head quickly, as if clearing it, then looked up at the boys. "That was awesome!" she breathed, grinning. They all began laughing and helped Fox stand up.

"You sure you're ok?" Henry asked as they headed to get some ice cream.

"Yeah, my head just hurts a little. How cool was that though! I'll have to work on trying to get the board to flip," she explained.

"It's good you had that helmet on. Who knows what would've happened if you didn't?" Henry said.

Fox nodded.

They walked in the ice cream shop and ordered before sitting at the table with their cold treat. "Hey Al, there's something in your ice cream," Buttons said, frowning.

Albert looked at Buttons skeptically before looking down at his ice cream. "What're you ta- AHH!" he shouted as Buttons pushed his head into it. The boys began cracking up. "We finally got you back! We did it!" Buttons shouted victoriously.

"Got him back for what?" Fox asked, giggling.

"The past two years, whenever we'd come here ole Ice Cream Face over there would always shove our ice cream in our faces as a prank. We've tried and tried to get him back, but it never worked. Today, we are victorious," Romeo explained, smiling.

Fox joined in on the laughter after that as Albert scowled at them. He got up and went to the bathroom to clean up.

After he came back, they finished up and left.

"So now what?" Buttons asked. He and Romeo were somewhat busy poking each other with some sticks they found.

"Let's get back to the Lodge. Jack's not gonna be too happy we had ice cream before dinner," Albert said, still try to get some ice cream out of his hair.

"Eh, it'll be fine. As long as we still eat he won't care," Henry said, waving it off.

"If Mush is the oldest, why's Jack in charge?" Fox asked, confused. "Because he's just a natural leader. Mush tried to be in charge once. Didn't end well," Henry said, chuckling.

Fox began to say something when they heard a voice say, "Well, well, well, lookie what we've got here, Morris."

The boys stopped, making Fox stop as well.

"Seems we got all the youngest Newsies, wouldn't Oscar?" Morris Delancey said.

Albert scowled and Fox heard him mutter, "I'm almost sixteen you dimwits."

"What was that?" Oscar growled, advancing on Albert.

"Nothing. He didn't say anything, come on guys let's just get outta here," Henry said, stepping in front of Albert.

When no one moved, Fox and Henry grabbed the other boys' hands and began practically dragging them off until Morris said, "Going to visit your little brother, girl?"

Fox stopped dead in her tracks.

"What'd you say?" she said in a low voice turning back around. They boys looking at each other in confusion.

"You heard us. Fox, was it? You goin' to visit your little brother, Fox? Eli, right?" Oscar asked, smiling with an evil glint in his eyes.

"How do you know about him?" Fox growled.

When the Delancey brothers didn't answer right away, Fox nearly jumped on them. It took both Albert and Henry to hold the small girl back.

"How do you know about him?!" she repeated, shouting. "Fox, calm down! Let's get outta here!" Henry said firmly. It took a minute, but she turned around. But instead of walking back with the boys, she took off towards the Lodge.

"Fox, wait up!" she heard Romeo shout but she didn't slow. She ran to the Lodge and darted inside. When she didn't see Mush in the living room or kitchen, she went up to his room.

He was sitting on a bed, talking to Race and Sniper who were across the room on two other beds.

"Oh hey, Fox, how was the skate park?" Mush asked, smiling.

His smile dropped when he saw her face. "What's wrong?" he asked, standing. Race and Sniper glanced at each other.

"You told them? How could you have told them! I thought you kept secrets!" she shouted at him, angry tears streaming down her face.

"Whoa, slow down, Fox, told who what? I didn't tell anyone anything," he said, confused.

"Yes, you did! How else would they have known!" she shouted.

"Fox, told who?" Mush asked loudly.

"Those-those brothers! The Del-del..." She couldn't remember their names, but was too angry to care. "You told those brothers about Eli!" she shouted.

"Fox, I didn't tell anyone about Eli, I wouldn't do that to you!" Mush was shouting now as well.

"Well no one else would've! You were the only one who knew!" she shouted. Before Mush could defend himself, she ran out and to her room, slamming the door and locking it. She was done. Done with all these boys. Done with everything.

She skipped dinner and began stuffing her suitcase.

Soon, someone knocked on her door. When she didn't say anything, the person at the door said, "Hey Fox? It's Mush. Can we talk?"

She ignored him. "I didn't tell the Delanceys. I don't know how they knew, but I didn't tell them," Mush continued. She halted in her packing for a quick second, before continuing.

"Fox, can you please open up? I just want to talk," Mush said.

It a small, low voice, she muttered, "Go away."

She heard Mush sigh before hearing his footsteps leave.

She waited until everyone was asleep, before sneaking out of her room and heading to that window from the very first night. She stared down at the ground below and tossed her suitcase out the window. It landed with a small thud.

She checked behind her to make sure no one was coming, before pulling herself up to the windowsill. She took a long deep breath, then jumped to the tree. She grabbed it, but began sliding down the tree. "No, no, no!" she gasped, trying grasp something, _anything_.

She squeezed her eyes shut, but suddenly she stopped falling. She opened her eyes and saw she'd grabbed onto a branch.

She reached the ground and picked up her suitcase before heading off. Fox knew exactly where she was going. To visit Eli.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Once Fox reached the Eli's room, she was beginning to wonder if this was a bad idea. Once she saw her little brother however, all worries left. She quietly walked over to the sleeping boy and took his hand again.

"Hey Eli, it's me again. How're you feeling?" she whispered. He stayed asleep, making Fox sigh. "You gotta wake up, Eli. I don't know how much longer you'll be in the hospital and I have so much to tell you about," Fox whispered eagerly.

Her brother stirred, but didn't wake up. Fox started to continue until she heard, "Ah, you came back."

Uh oh.

Fox turned slowly and saw Joyce a few feet behind her.

"I just came to-."

"I don't care _why_ you came, girl, you know you're not supposed to be seeing him," Joyce growled.

"Why do you care so much? Why can't I see my brother?" Fox asked, upset and angry.

"Because you're not real siblings!" Joyce said angrily. Before Fox could say anything else, Joyce grabbed her arm, her grip way too strong for Fox to break out of when she was this tired.

"You're going to come with me, and you're going to come quietly," Joyce whispered threateningly. "Or what?" Fox spat. "You don't want to know," Joyce growled.

Even though she tried not to be, Fox was _terrified_ of this woman.

She followed Joyce quietly and didn't hesitate to give the people in the lobby, pleading, terrified looks. No one paid her any attention though.

Joyce took Fox to her home, locking the door behind them.

"You're going to learn to never disobey me again, little girl," Joyce growled.

Fox got and ran to the door, trying to unlock it but Joyce was faster.

Fox had never met Snyder, but from what the boys had told her about him, Joyce was basically the female version.

Fox was in bad shape by the time the sun began rising. She knew the boys would notice she was gone and she could only hope they weren't too angry at her, because even through her anger at Mush, she was really wishing she hadn't left.

* * *

 **Only 4 more chapters to go! Also, sorry for the short chapter, the next four are a lot longer.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Still no sign of her?" Race asked as Jack walked back in. Jack shook his head. It'd been almost a week since Fox left, and the boys didn't know what to do.

Mush was barely home, searching for the little girl he considered his sister. "I don't where else to search. We've searched almost all of New York, we even got Katherine and her dad and Spot and his boys looking," Jack said angrily.

"Jack, what if we don't find her?" Romeo asked.

Jack looked at the youngest newsie and didn't know what to say. Instead, he growled and went up to the roof.

"Let's get goin', we need to get to the distribution center," Specs said, quietly.

It took a minute, but everyone followed Specs out.

Selling didn't go too well. In fact, it hadn't gone too well since Fox went missing. But they managed to make somewhat enough money to give to Kloppmann.

By the time they made it back, it was dinner time. Kloppmann had pizza made for them, but he was on the phone when they got back.

"Who's he on the phone with?" Mush asked, walking in behind the boys.

"Don't know, we just got back. Hey, did ya find anything?" Les asked. Davey and Les had come to spend the night with the boys while their parents were visiting their grandmother.

Mush shook his head. "Saw a couple police cars and an ambulance though. Headline's should be good tomorrow," he said, but he didn't sound too excited.

"Yes, ok, thank you. We will," Kloppmann said and hung up. "Who was that?" Finch asked curiously.

"That boys, was the police. They found her," Kloppmann smiled. It took a second, but soon a cheer erupted. The boys high-fived and hugged each other and celebrated.

"Wait, wait, wait! Hush, all of you!" Mush shouted, shutting them up. "Is she ok?" he asked.

Kloppmann's smile faltered. "She's hurt, dehydrated, and malnourished. They're taking her to the hospital right now. They said once they know she's going to be ok, we can visit her," he explained.

"When will that be?" Buttons asked.

"He said they'll let us know by tomorrow morning," he said.

The boys became silent. They ate their dinner then went to their rooms. "Do you guys think she'll be ok?" Sniper asked. They were currently in the older boys' room, which consisted of Mush, Specs, Davey, Race, Sniper, Elmer, and Albert. Jack hadn't come down from the roof yet and was probably going to sleep up there.

"I don't know to be honest," Specs mumbled.

"I think she will. She's tough. She won't give up that easily," Race said, stuffing one of his cigars in his mouth.

"Do you think she'll still be mad at me?" Mush asked quietly, staring at his bed. "I don't know. We don't know what kind of mindset she's in right now," Davey said.

Mush didn't say anything, remembering what Fox had told him about her past. He was fully convinced it was Joyce that took Fox. If she's like Eli, then it just _had_ to be Joyce.

"I wonder where she even went. Mush, did she tell you anywhere that she might've gone?" Elmer asked.

"She went to visit her brother in the hospital. Her brother's aunt must've taken her," Mush growled.

The boys looked at each other. "What?" Albert asked.

"I can't say a lot, but she has a half brother who lives with his aunt named Joyce. Joyce doesn't like Sage for some reason and won't let her see her brother. Sage must've tried to visit her brother and Joyce caught her," Mush explained.

The boys were quiet.

"We better get to bed, it's getting late," Davey said quietly, glancing at the clock. For a moment, no one moved.

Then one by one, they slowly went to their beds and laid down.

* * *

"I say we sneak into the hospital and find her."

"C'mon, Les, think logically, we can't do that."

"Why not? She's our sister, we should be able to see her."

The younger boys room consisted of Jojo, Finch, Henry, Buttons, Romeo, and Les. Crutchie had gone up to the roof with Jack to tell him that they found Fox and was probably going to stay the night up there, but otherwise he'd be in the younger boys room as well.

"Yeah, but we can't sneak in there, we'll get in trouble," Finch explained.

"So what? I want to see her," Romeo argued.

The room exploded into a full blown argument, until Jojo got on top of on the bunk beds and shouted, "Hey! Shut up, all of ya! Do you want to older boys to come in here and want to know what's going on?"

That made them hush. "Listen. We're going to listen to Kloppmann and wait for the hospital to call us on news. That's that," Jojo said firmly.

They were all quiet. "Do you think she's going to be ok?" Les asked. Finch and Jojo, the two oldest in the room, glanced at each other.

"I do."

Everyone looked over to Henry, who hadn't spoken much most of the night. "I think she'll be fine. She's tough, guys," he said and they nodded.

"C'mon. Let's get to bed, it's getting late," Finch said.

The boys did as told and they all crawled into bed. Finch shut off the light and they fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, everyone woke up around the same time. They had breakfast in mostly silence, watching Kloppmann's office carefully.

Soon, Kloppmann exited his office, smiling. "I just got off the phone with the hospital. You boys can go visit Sage once you're done with breakfast."

They scarfed their breakfast down then darted out the door.

As they headed to the hospital, they were stopped by the Delanceys. "Are you going to visit your little fox friend?" Oscar sneered.

"Yeah, and you can't stop us," Specs growled as they began to push past them.

"Well, are visiting Eli too?" Morris smirked.

Mush stopped and turned around slowly. "How do you know about Eli?" he growled.

"Wow, you really are stupid, aren't you. Isn't it obvious? You and the girl weren't exactly discreet when you were talking about it last week," Morris chuckled.

Realization washed over Mush. The footsteps Fox and Mush had heard behind them. It-it was _them_.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mush growled. "You made her think I told you." Before anyone could stop him, he had Morris pinned against the wall.

Jack and Specs practically dragged Mush off of Morris. "Mush, as much as we would _love_ to beat these guys up, now's not the time. We gotta get to Sage," Specs said firmly.

Mush struggled against Jack and Specs but as they continued walking, he stopped.

They made it to the hospital and went up to Sage's room.

Her arm was in a cast, and she had a blood tube and an IV in her arm. Several wounds covered her body, some stitched up while others were bandaged or didn't have anything on them. Her bed was tilting upwards, so she was almost sitting up but not quite and even though she was sleeping, the younger boys tried to talk to her.

"I'm guessing you're related to Sage?" a nurse asked, walking in.

"We're her family," Jack explained and the nurse smiled. "Would you boys like a Sharpie? So you can sign her cast?" the nurse asked.

Jack nodded and the nurse left, returning a few minutes later with a can full of multi-colored Sharpies.

"Boys, be gentle, ok?" Jack told them as they began to crowd around the small, sleeping girl. "We know, we know. Sheesh, Cowboy, you make it sound like we're clueless imbeciles," Race joked, rolling his eyes

"Thank you," Davey told the nurse. She nodded with a smile before leaving.

"Imbecile? Isn't that a Davey word, Race?" Crutchie grinned.

Race didn't say anything, making the boys laugh.

"It's my fault she's hurt, isn't it."

They looked at Mush, who hadn't taken his eyes off the younger girl since they got there.

"How is it your fault?" Jack asked, frowning. "I'm the one who brought her here to visit Eli. That's how Joyce found her. If I hadn't brought her here, Joyce wouldn't have gotten her," Mush said quietly.

"Mush, she would've come here with or without you. She's stubborn remember?" Specs said.

Mush didn't say anything, still believing it was his fault.

They stayed with her the rest of the day, drawing doodles on her cast and making bets on when she was going to wake up.

At the end of the day, Crutchie and Finch went to get food for everyone and managed to convince Mush to go with them.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Les asked.

"I don't know. She needs the rest though," Davey replied.

They were quiet, but their breath hitched when Fox began stirring. She opened her eyes and looked over, seeing her brothers.

"Guys?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Fox! You're awake!" they exclaimed, along with several exclamations, making the young girl flinch.

"Oh, sorry," Jack said and he hushed the boys. "It's-it's fine. What're you doing here?" she asked.

"We've been here all day, waiting for ya to wake up," Les smiled.

A smile flickered across Fox's face for a quick seconds. "You-you mean you're not mad at me for running away?"

"At first we were, but now we're just glad you're safe," Sniper smiled. "Yeah, just don't do it again," Jack smirked.

Something flashed across Fox's face before she nodded. If the boys noticed, they didn't say anything.

"So where'd ya disappear to, Fox? We were worried sick 'bout ya," Buttons wondered.

Fox hesitated. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. We understand," Jack added quickly. She nodded and didn't say anything.

She looked at each of the boys and asked, "Where's-where's Mush, Crutchie, and Finch?"

As if on cue, the three boys walked back into the hospital room, carrying multiple bags of Burger King and McDonalds. The boys erupted at the sight of food and nearly tackled the three boys.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down you animals, we'll pass it out!" Crutchie shouted, frowning at them. No one seemed to hear him though as they dug through the bags, making Fox giggle.

The small sound made Crutchie, Finch, and Mush turn towards the bed. Smiles broke out onto each of their faces. "How're you feeling?" Finch asked. "I'll be fine," she said in a small voice.

She locked eyes with Mush for quick second before looking down at her hands. "Hey guys, can I talk with Fox? Privately?" Mush asked, looking at the other boys. Jack nodded and he, Specs, and Davey ushered the boys out.

"It was Joyce who did this to you, wasn't it."

Fox, who was still staring at her hands, gave a small nod.

"Sage, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't brought you here to see Eli, none of this would've happened," Mush apologized, pulling a chair over to her bed. "Is Jack mad at me?" she whispered, looking over at Mush.

Mush frowned in confusion. "Mad? Why would he be mad?"

"Because he told me not to run away again," she squeaked.

Mush rested his elbows on his knees, so that he was leaning closer towards the bed. "He's not mad, we were just really, really, worried about you."

Fox nodded. "I'm sorry for running away. And I'm sorry for getting mad at you."

"It's ok. But you gotta believe me, Sage, I didn't tell the Delanceys. We ran into them on the way here. Sage, you remember that day when you first told me about Eli and we were at the distribution center and we heard someone behind us? It was _them_ , Sage. I swear, I wouldn't have told them," Mush explained.

Sage thought for a minute then anger washed over her face. "Those stupid, little,-."

"Hey, hey, hey," Mush chuckled.

Sage smiled at him. "I'm so sorry for accusing you and getting mad, Mush. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course. You're my little sister after all," Mush grinned. Fox wrapped her arms around him as much as the IV and blood tube would allow her to. Mush hugged her as well and they separated after a minute.

"Wanna let those guys back in?" Mush asked and Fox nodded.

Mush got up from his chair and opened the door seeing the boys standing by the door. Once he opened it they scrambled off like turning on the lights in a room full of cockroaches.

Mush and Fox laughed and Mush poked his head out of the room, calling them back.

The boys all came back in and Davey announced, "I told them it was a bad idea."

"It's ok guys," Mush smirked.

"Finally! I was almost convinced I got lost!" a female voice said behind the crowd of boys. "Katherine!" they shouted happily.

"Hey guys. Hey Fox, how're you feeling?" Katherine asked, making her way to the front of the crowd. "Tired," Fox shrugged.

"Well that's expected after what you've been through," Crutchie chuckled.

Fox was still in kind of a distant mood, so the boys and Katherine tried to cheer her up a little before she fell asleep again from exhaustion.

Two days passed and Fox was released from the hospital after she began getting healthier and healthier.

As a welcome home party kind of thing, the boys and Fox spent the night watching Treasure Planet, Big Hero 6, and Moana and eating all the junk food they could without puking.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Two more days passed and it was officially August 2nd. The day the strike ended. It also just happened to be Fox's twelfth birthday, so the boys and Katherine were planning a party.

She'd been doing a whole lot better and even got a little closer to Katherine. She was having some pretty bad nightmares, but that was understandable.

Joyce also ended up going to jail and the boys had a _huge_ surprise for Fox.

The morning of August 2nd, Crutchie, Buttons, and Romeo went up to Fox's room and knocked loudly on her door.

"C'mon, Fox, get up!" Romeo shouted.

"I don't wanna. I wanna sleep," Fox mumbled, half-asleep. "It's your birthday though! You gotta have your special birthday breakfast before it gets cold!" Buttons shouted. "And before Race and Elmer eat it!" Crutchie added.

Fox realized they weren't going to leave her alone unless she got up, so she climbed out of bed, got dressed and followed the boys downstairs.

After grabbing some pancakes she sat next to Mush. All of the boys had noticed how Mush and Fox's relationship strengthened after she came back from the hospital. Of course she was still somewhat close with the other boys, but it was different with Mush.

"Happy birthday, Fox!" Mush smirked, nudging the smaller girl with his elbow. She nudged him back with a smile and said, "Thanks."

"So how's it feel bein' twelve?" Specs asked, sitting across from the pair.

Fox shrugged. "Not really any different."

"That what I said when he asked how it felt when I turned thirteen," Romeo whispered to her as he walked past, making Fox laugh.

"Since it's Saturday and we did such a great job selling yesterday, Kloppmann said we can stay home and celebrate today!" Jack announced, walking in, making the room erupt into cheers.

Fox jumped at the sudden noise but gave a small smile. Ever since she got back, she'd been jumpier than usual, but the boys didn't question it. They already knew why.

"I called the Jacobs and Ace and told them to get their butts over here so we can celebrate. After all, it's not everyday you celebrate the one year anniversary from a strike _and_ a birthday party on the same day!" Jack shouted enthusiastically.

The boys cheered again and Mush shook Fox's shoulders gently. Mush was the only one Fox allowed to touch her. The other boys she still shied away from. It's not that she didn't trust the other boys, but she was much closer to Mush.

Anyway, the Jacobs brothers and Katherine showed up an hour later. Katherine came with a cake and the brothers came with balloons and streamers. Everyone spent most of the day decorating the Lodge.

Fox struggled a bit hanging the streamers because of her broken arm, but she was able to blow up balloons. She just had to get Davey to tie them for her.

By the time the sun was going down, they'd finished with their messy decorating and were celebrating. Loudly. It wasn't until Mush noticed that Fox was very stiff that he told the boys to quiet down.

"You ok?" he whispered to her.

She moved her head the slightest in a nod. "Do ya need to step out?" She shook her head 'no' and after five minutes she relaxed.

They threw water balloons around outside, played Twister, Charades, Truth or Dare, and Fox even joined in on Albert and Henry's game of 'Hide Race's Cigar'.

"Ok, ok! Calm down, all of ya! Listen up! Buttons, don't you dare eat that entire can of whipped cream," Jack shouted, pointing at said boy, who slowly hid the can behind his back.

"Fox, we've got a little present for ya. It's actually a miracle it's stayed a surprise this long," Jack said, muttering the last part.

Fox frowned in confusion and looked up at Mush, who was grinning.

Then she noticed Specs and Davey had disappeared.

"Specs, Davey, come on in!" Jack called, cupping his hands around his mouth.

It took a minute, but Specs and Davey walked in with a little boy following them. The little boy looked around, confused and scared.

It took Fox a second, but as soon as she recognized him, she gasped and shouted, "Eli!"

The boy turned at the sound of his name and saw his sister. A grin broke out on his face and the siblings ran at the other, meeting each other halfway.

"I've missed you so much!" Eli said in her shoulder.

"I've missed you too!" Fox said into his shoulder.

"Eli's comin' to live with us at the Lodge, Fox!" Jack announced.

Fox could've exploded with happiness. She hugged her brother even tighter as she sobbed happily into his shoulder.

She was finally knew where she belonged. She and Eli finally had a home. And she was never, ever, going to leave again.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's the end! I don't have any plans on a sequel, but if I come up with an idea or someone gives me one that I like, I'll consider it. Comments would be appreciated! TTFN!**


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